William Heath

William Heath (7 March 1737-24 January 1814) was a Major-General in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.

Biography
William Heath was born on 7 March 1737 in Roxbury, Massachusetts on a farm that had been settled by his ancestors in 1636. By 1760, Heath had risen to captain in a militia company, and by 1770 he was its colonel and commanding officer. In December 1774, he was promoted to Brigadier-General and fought in the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the Siege of Boston, and the 1776 campaign in New York in New Jersey. Heath was promoted to Major-General in August 1776 despite being unproven, and a failed attack on Fort Independence in New York in January 1777 led to his dismissal from combat command. After the war, he was a member of Massachusetts' delegation to the Constitutional Convention, and he declined the office of Lieutenant-Governor in 1806. Heath died in 1814.